Arrangement in rolling mills



P (1967 PER'OLOF STRANDELL. 3,343,396

ARRANGEMENT IN ROLLING MILLS Filed NOV. 20, 1964 I v INVENTOR Per-(9 0 5 Sfkand LL mm M 2 M) homaa,

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,343,396 ARRANGEMENT IN ROLLING MILLS Per-Olof Strandell, Bockstigen 3, Nasbypark, Sweden Filed Nov. 20, 1964, Ser. No. 412,664 Claims priority, application Sweden, Nov. 26, 1963, 13,076/ 63 7 Claims. (Cl. 72-238) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A mill for rolling a workpiece comprising a roll stand having a supporting slide detachably mounted therein, with a pair of working rollers for said workpiece being mounted on said stand. The slide is adapted to slide with respect to said stand in a direction at right angles to the axes of said rollers, and is removable from said stand in the same direction, means being provided to lock said slide in a plurality of positions with respect to said stand.

The present in rolling mills for rolling metals of various types having at least one pair of cooperating working rolls which are self-adjustably mounted in a casing detachable in relation to the stand of rolls.

The arrangement according to the invention is intended to be applicable for hot as well as cold rolling but is primarily developed to be especially applicable for cold rolling of relatively thin strips and alternatively for hot rolling of relatively thin rods, wire or shapes.

Upon rolling the above mentioned materials it has proved to be advantageous with cold rolling as well as with hot rolling to reduce the diameter of the Working rolls placing said diameter in a certain relation to the dimension of the material to be rolled. However, the fact that the diameters of the working rolls are reduced involves that increased mechanical strains on said rolls must be expected, which in turn increases their replacement frequency. As is known idle times involve large economic losses in rolling mill plants and furthermore it is also highly inconvenient and time consuming to replace working rolls in known rolling mill plants owing to their relatively fixed enclosement. This fact is especially accentuated when working with small stocks of various dimensions and it is also a known fact that the effective time of use for roller mills is relatively low.

The object of the invention is to reduce the setting-up times to a minimum and possibly by reducing the time of use of the rolls to raise the quality of the rolled product by making several more roll changes than is possible, both economically and where time is concerned, with earlier known rolling mill plants.

In accordance herewith the invention is characterized by a supporting slide displaceable and adjustable substantially at right angles to the roll shaft plane of the rolling mill wherein the working roll pair is mounted.

The invention wlil be further described with reference to an embodiment diagrammatically shown in the attached drawing and in connection therewith further characteristic features of the invention will be set forth.

Sections of a roll stand are indicated by 1 and 2 in which two backing rolls, indicated by 3 and 4 respectively, are mounted for rotation and to be driven in a known manner. However, such arrangements can be constructed wherein the backing roll 4 has a fixed position whilst the backing roll 3 has a mounting which enables a vertical adjustment of its shaft. If it should be so desired the same arrangement can also be applied to the roll 4.

Cooperating with both of said backing rolls are two working rolls, indicated by 5 and 6. It might be mentioned here that the rolling mill now being described is primarvention relates to an arrangement in ily intended as a hot rolling mill. Hence the rolls 5 and 6 are provided with cooperating roll tracks 7 and 8. Both the rolls 5 and 6 are further provided, at the ends, with necks indicated by 9 and 10 respectively. This mill can be modified for cold rolling by omitting necks 8 and 9 and replacing them by a different type of mounting. In the embodiment shown the rolls are mounted with their necks 9 and 10 respectively in opposite guide or mounting tracks 11, said tracks being arranged in a rigid U-beamshaped supporting slide, indicated by 12, having upright flanges 13. The working rolls 5 and 6 can be held pressed against their respective backing rolls and, as by way of example, long leaf springs 14 are shown which are secured in bracket means 15 at the flanges 13. These springs normally strive to force the roll 6 upwards against the backing roll 3 whereby the leaf springs form supports for the necks 10 on the roll 6. An inlet guide 16 having a funnel shaped inlet duct 17 is arranged at the front end of the supporting slide 12 for guiding the heated stock into said slide. This inlet guide constitutes a rough guide arrangement for the incoming heated stock. However, in order to obtain a more precise entrance into the track two vertical guide rolls, indicated by 18 and 19, are arranged. These guide rolls are mounted on shafts 20 and 21 which in turn are secured to their respective leaf springs 22 which are secured to the flanges 13 by means of screw bolts 23. The strength of said springs is thereby so adapted that the rolls are normally forced against each other and trap the heated stock in a space 24 formed between the rollers from where the heated stock is passed, in a precise manner, into the interspacing, between the tracks 7 and 8 on both the working rolls in order, after passing the rolls, to be guided by a special stripper 25 so that the heated stock travels substantially straight ahead without being carried by any of the rolls.

Furthermore, the outer, sides of the flanges of the slide 12 are provided with guide rails 26 and 27 which rails firmly fit tracks 28, which are intended for this purpose, and provided in a special guide bar arrangement generally indicated by 29. Said guide bar arrangement can in itself if so desired constitute an integral section of the stand of rolls but for many reasons it is usually more suitable to construct it separately and secure it to the stand of rolls as shown in the drawing. Two mounting flanges indicated by 30 are arranged in the example shown for said attachment. Screw bolts 31 which fit into corresponding threads provided in the roll stand sections 1 and 2 are drawn through said mounting flanges.

From the newly described arrangement the supporting slide 12 is displaceably arranged substantially at right angles to the plane of the roll axis. It is also possible to move said slide to different setting positions in the guide. of providing for fine interspace between the working rolls 7 and 8, it is possible to finely adjust the position of the entire supporting slide and thereby also of the plane of the working rolls. For this purpose a setting screw bolt 32 is arranged at the front lower section of the slide which is passed through an ear, indicated by reference numeral 33, and enters into a nut section or threaded hole, not shown, arranged in the lower section of a guide 29.

In the course of rolling it is possible, by adjusting the setting screw bolt 32, to control the thickness of the outgoing rolled material and also partly achieve a means of supervision and adjustment of said thickness with respect to the wear and tear of the rolls. This can be performed manually or said screw bolt may also be automatically acted upon by suitable regulating means cooperating with a sensing means known per se, which gauges the dimension of the outgoing rolled product and in response to the sensed dimension automatically causes the regulating means to control the position of displacement of the supporting slide relative to the guide.

for the working section proper of the guide member. For

this purpose both upright flanges of the guide have been divided into two separate vertical sections which rest against each other on curved surfaces, indicated by reference numeral 34, on one side and on the other side by concentrical curved surfaces 35. If, by this arrangement the inner portion of the guide 29 is displaced in the longitudinal direction this will correspond to an angular displacement in the horizontal plane of the complete guide arrangement, and in order to carry out this positioning as well as also securing in set position a special setting screw bolt 36 is arranged which unites both the moving sections in relation to each other within certain limits. This arrangement is particularly advantageous when it is desired to guide the outgoing heated stock in the horizontal plane.

The fact that the diameters of the working rolls are relatively small and the weight proportionally low therewith enables the complete slide with inbuilt details to be operated by hand. Furthermore these relatively light rolls are situated in the supporting slide which can be, at any time, quickly removed out of its fitting in the guide and replaced by a new supporting slide, including a new working roll pair, revised or intended for another dimension. Since the supporting slide can also -be made relatively small and light no great difficulties are involved in effecting an exchange. It can thus be arranged that supporting slides, previously assembled, with roll pairs for any purpose can be stored beforehand. One may revise each casing or supporting slide and the included working rolls, without necessarily interrupting the operation in the meantime, which makes this type of rolling mill very flexible in operation.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment shown and described but can be varied in many ways within the scope of the attached claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A mill for rolling a workpiece comprising a roll stand; a supporting slide detachably mounted in said roll stand; a pair of working rollers for said workpiece mounted on said slide; said slide being adapted to slide with respect to, and being removable from, said stand in a direction at right angles to the axes of said rollers; and means to lock said slide in a plurality of positions with respect to said stand.

2. The arrangement of claim 1, further comprising a guide member mounted on said stand, said slide being slidably mounted on said guide member.

3. The arrangement of claim 2, wherein said guide member is detachably mounted with respect to said stand.

4. The arrangement of claim 2, further comprising means responsive to the relative position of said slide and said guide for adjusting the distance between said rollers.

5. The arrangement of claim 4, wherein said responsive means includes a backing roller for at least one of said working rolls, and means urging at least one of said working rolls against a corresponding backing roller.

6. The arrangement of claim 2, wherein a portion of said guide member is rotatably adjustable in a horizontal plane with respect to said roll stand.

7. The arrangement of claim 1, further comprising means to guide the workpiece in between said working rolls in correct alignment with respect thereto.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,887,870 11/1932 Coe 72-243 1,892,933 1/1933 Coryell 72243 1,964,504 6/1934 Coryell 72243 FRANCIS S. HUSAR, Primary Examiner, 

1. A MILL FOR ROLLING A WORKPIECE COMPRISING A ROLL STAND; A SUPPORTING SLIDE DETACHABLY MOUNTED IN SAID ROLL STAND; A PAIR OF WORKING ROLLERS FOR SAID WORKPIECE MOUNTED ON SAID SLIDE; SAID SLIDE BEING ADAPTED TO SLIDE WITH RESPECT TO, AND BEING REMOVABLE FROM, SAID STAND IN A DIRECTION AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE AXES OF SAID ROLLERS; AND MEANS TO LOCK SAID SLIDE IN A PLURALITY OF POSITIONS WITH RESPECT TO SAID STAND. 